


Twist The Sinews Of Thy Heart

by InRetrospect



Category: Havemercy Series - Jaida Jones & Danielle Bennett
Genre: Dani wasn't on when I had headcanons so I panicked and wrote fic, Gen, apparently Toverre has become less neurotic in recent times good for him
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-07-16
Updated: 2013-07-16
Packaged: 2017-12-20 10:04:48
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,290
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/885972
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/InRetrospect/pseuds/InRetrospect
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>One never knows who might become one's companion over a cup of coffee, and in Thremedon less so.  Post-Steelhands, so beware.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Twist The Sinews Of Thy Heart

**Author's Note:**

  * For [IWasHereMomentsAgo](https://archiveofourown.org/users/IWasHereMomentsAgo/gifts).



> Apparently I'm still blaming [Dani](http://whisperingtoghosts.tumblr.com/) for everything, but this one could actually be construed as her fault.  
> Title from William Blake's _The Tyger_.

**Toverre**

One thing that I could say for Thremedon, in all her fear and might, was that she never lost her beauty over time. I hadn’t been her for very long, but even in the transition from winter to summer, she handled it with far more grace than the country ever could. At home, there would be patches of mud and snow everywhere, tufts of grass forming like an ill cat and awkwardly frozen patches that threatened to ruin your new spring shoes if you got too close. Thremedon, though- she dripped and froze, like a magician working his Talent, Kitezh rising into the sunlight again. Now that she was done, spring blossomed around her, and even my persistent allergies could not prevent me from going out to appreciate her beauty for myself.

Currently, I was sitting on a bench alongside the Rue, enjoying a cup of Noisette as the morning woke from it’s chill. After Laure and Gaeth had left the ‘Versity, although I missed them dearly, I had more time to devote myself to new pursuits such as earning money, and- it still gave me shivers sometimes to think of it- Luvander had offered to take me on as an assistant. Me, working in Yesfir, as the assistant of an Airman! My father would have passed out. To be fair, though, it was rather slow during the week and a lot of my duties consisted of making sure Luvander was actually feeding himself. For a national hero, he could be dreadfully forgetful of himself sometimes. Just now, Ghislain had popped in for a chat and Luvander had shooed me off, telling me to treat myself and not come back for a good hour, which was why I was drinking coffee and not sorting ribbons as I should have. The last time all three of us had been in the shop, the customer had been too frightened to actually buy anything.

I sipped at my coffee carefully, making sure the spoon did not fall off the saucer- the workers at the coffee shop had become accustomed to me enough to let me take the dishes outside as I pleased, something I was terribly grateful for. I let the steam roll over my face and sooth my eyes somewhat, and it was so relaxing that I did not open them until something large bumped into my leg.

My eyes started opened immediately, and I only became more startled once I realized what had caused the invasion of my personal space. It was a tiger, and a very large one.

I swallowed my coffee, then swallowed again for good measure, and eyed the tiger carefully. Despite not being a native myself, I was fairly certain tigers were not indigenous to Thremedon. It continued to look at me, and I blinked slowly, a trick Laure had taught me to use on the wild tomcats back at the farm. It simply stared at me some more.

I glanced around- no one. With nothing else to do and the tiger unmoving, I took another sip of my coffee and tried to gather my thoughts. I could call for Luvander and Ghislain, who would certainly be able to rescue me from any terrible beasts, but that might startle the cat, and it was sitting right at my feet. It would probably get me before they did, which was not a pleasing train of thought.

But then the oddest thing happened. The tiger watched me take a sip of the coffee, stared plaintively at the saucer and then me, then trilled. I nearly dropped my coffee in surprise.

I looked at the tiger for a minute, then asked hesitantly, “Um, would you like some?” It was probably the single oddest conversation I had ever started, but I felt I had nothing to lose. The tiger trilled at me again and butted my knee with it’s head for good measure.

Looking around and discovering no one screaming in fright, I said, “Alright, then,” and poured some of the coffee into the saucer on my lap. It didn’t quite work out at first and I got coffee all over my hands, but soon I devised a system using the spoon to prevent it from dribbling back on the cup. I spooned some of the foam on for good measure and, at a loss, set the saucer down in front of the tiger. “There you are, then,” I said, taking a sip from my own coffee and wondering why I hadn’t fainted yet. It was a bit of a blessing, I suppose, but I questioned what my life had come to that I could take a tiger begging for my coffee in stride.

We sat there in silence and drank our coffee together, wiping my hands with a kerchief first, and I finished mine quickly now that most of it was being drunk by a large wildcat. When it had finished, it looked up at me again, and I said, “That’s all there was. It was an espresso, you know.” Content with that, it nudged the saucer aside and laid down near my feet, tail twitching slightly. I picked up the saucer rather carefully with the kerchief I’d already used and contemplated my life as it was.

We didn’t do much, the tiger and I, but simply sat there and enjoyed the ever-increasing sunshine and watched the nearly-deserted Rue. I contemplated petting the tiger for about half a second, then realized what a bad idea that would be and sighed heavily. The tiger opened an eye, batted at my foot with it’s tail, and went back to sleep.

I had nearly gone to sleep myself, what with a warm tiger at my feet and the sun beating down on my head, but a voice interrupted us. “Lucy!” was the faint call, and suddenly the tiger perked up, ears flicking to the side. I followed it’s gaze and saw a small figure, bedecked in a rather fashionable ensemble, waving from the end of the block.

A thought occurred to me. “Oh, that’s your name?” I asked, looking down. “Lucy?” The tiger trilled at me and butted my knee again, getting to it’s- or rather, her- feet.

“Lucy, we have to go now!” called the figure again, waving both arms. I noticed the person wasn’t wearing a hat, and thought vaguely that they would look in one of those wide-brimmed ones that was coming back into style, since they always looked more fitting on smaller figures. But then the tiger was off and loping and by the time I had been shaken out of my thoughts, she was a storefront away already.

Waving hesitantly, I called, “It was lovely to meet you!” to the tiger in an effort to remember my manners, and she stopped for a moment to look at me before heading off again. She nearly ploughed into the figure as she reached the block’s end, and they waved at me as they set off with Lucy the tiger, disappearing around a corner and out of sight.

I sat for a moment, simply gathering my thoughts, before suddenly getting up almost not of my own volition and heading towards the coffee shop, the opposite way the stranger and the tiger had went. I would have to tell Luvander of this, of course, and write to Laure as soon as I got back to my dorms. I didn’t think I would tell the employees of the coffee shop, though. Something told me they wouldn’t appreciate hearing of a tiger licking their precious dishes which they had so trustingly lent out to me.

Thremedon may be beautiful, but she could be rather baffling sometimes. How I stood her, I didn’t know.


End file.
